A Chinese protester and her mother

Chinese villagers have been protesting groundwater extraction by state-owned coal company Shenhua. Wulansubude (left) has been arrested three times for protesting. Her mother tried to cut her own neck in an effort to get her daughter released, with the authorities complying out of fear she might kill herself. But mass protests will not stop Shenhua from extracting groundwater here. Water levels continue to fall, grasslands continue to turn into desert, trees continue to die and farmers still have no water for their crops.

Chinese villagers have been protesting groundwater extraction by state-owned coal company Shenhua. Wulansubude (left) has been arrested three times for protesting. Her mother tried to cut her own neck in an effort to get her daughter released, with the authorities complying out of fear she might kill herself. But mass protests will not stop Shenhua from extracting groundwater here. Water levels continue to fall, grasslands continue to turn into desert, trees continue to die and farmers still have no water for their crops.